


Anamnesis

by Dantooine



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Ajan Kloss, Childhood Memories, Established Relationship, F/M, It's Soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29626311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dantooine/pseuds/Dantooine
Summary: "A recalling to mind; reminiscence."
Relationships: Cassian Andor/Leia Organa
Kudos: 3





	Anamnesis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pontmercyingtilthecowscomehome](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pontmercyingtilthecowscomehome/gifts).



Cassian's hand hasn't strayed from Leia's elbow since they'd stepped off the ship. 

There's no overt reason for him to be be doing so. No threats await them here on this jungle moon, not even armed and curious Ewoks. Ajan Kloss is far more similar to Yavin in that aspect. The sentinents that lived on this world had disappeared long before Bail Organa's scouts circled its surface and found the caves they had called home a millenia ago. Cassian had always been leery of the Alliance's tendency to proclaim they'd discovered an uninhabited planet, and numerous run-ins with startled inhabitants have humbled the cocky scouts since. 

However. their assessement of Ajan Kloss has proven correct even by Cassian's skeptical standards. Its jungles are filled only by trees and the calls of birds that live within them. The closest organics are the bugs drunk on nectar that buzz past Cassian's ears every few minutes. So, this moon is as empty as any jungle can be. 

There's nobody here to strike up a conversation with them, much less attack—though Cassian thinks conversation is its own form of combat. Especially with Leia. 

So the two of them walk in silence, only accompanied by each other and the ambient sound of the jungle around them. Cassian hasn't felt this relaxed on his first visit to a planet before. 

He has a mission here, but it's a simple one. The constant pressure that was life under the Empire no longer exists, and Cassian is happier for it. But the relief wasn't as powerful as he'd expected it to be. Living is odd to him, as if one had returned to standard gravity after a lifetime on a planet with twice the pull. 

And it was a lifetime. Cassian tries not to think about it, but the resulting pang he feels is an echo of the wound Fest had left in his heart. His reassuring hold on Leia's arm briefly tightens before he shoves the feeling back deep into his chest. If Leia notices, she doesn't say anything. 

Overhead, a creature noisly flaps its wings as it lands on a tree branch. The two of them pass under the branch to enter a small clearing in the thick of the woods. 

While Ajan Kloss is new to him, it is not a new world to Leia. Unlike Yavin, the Alliance had never set up on the moon but it had been part of Bail's vast repertoire of safeworlds. Leia's father's knack for preparations may mean he'd left something behind worth looking for. For Cassian, this is just a simple reconnaissance mission. For Leia, it means confronting memories of vacations here with her parents.

A young Leia had assumed the moon was merely another property owned by the royal family, not a potential Alliance base. She hadn't told Cassian anything else about her history here. So the steadying gesture of Cassian's hand on her elbow is as much for her as it is for himself. He won't lose her, and she has him to lean on. 

Leia stops walking and Cassian follows her gaze, noticing the outline of a cave's mouth amid the trees. 

"Why don't we stay here for the night?" Leia drops her pack in the grass. "I know you prefer the ship, but..."

"This is nice," Cassian agrees, shrugging off his pack. Sleeping in mild weather would be a nice change from their cramped ship, and they'd brought camping gear anyways. He crouches down to set his bag beside hers before double checking their gear. Once he's satisfied, he nods to himself then looks up at Leia.

She's smiling at him. 

Cassian tilts his head. "What is it?" he asks, taking in the sight of her standing above him. Leia's outfit is similar in style to his own, down to the brown pants tucked into scuffed boots. The only difference between them is their method of layering—Cassian's opted for his trusty brown jacket while Leia's wearing a simple vest. Yet Leia makes the practical outfit as ethereal as a glittering ballgown. Others may say she looked like royalty, but Cassian knows better. 

With dappled sunlight flickering over her, Leia looks like an angel. If angels had scars and knew their way around a blaster. 

Leia shakes her head and the movement frees a lock of hair from her braid. "Nothing," she says with a smile. 

Cassian stands up, unsatisifed but amused by her answer. He approaches her with ambling footsteps and smiles when she lifts a hand to playfully shove his shoulder. 

He intercepts it before she makes contact, gently taking her hand in his. Leia's eyebrows draw together, but that is the extent of the hold her mock anger holds on her features. Cassian's gaze holds hers for a moment before it flickers down to her hand. A scrape she'd acquired at some point in the last couple days runs along the back of her hand. He runs a thumb across her knuckles, coming to a stop when it brushes her mother's ring on her index finger. The queen of Alderaan had many such trinkets, but this ring was the only one Leia had come across after the planet's destruction.

He wonders if any of his mother's belongings still exist somewhere, waiting for him to find them and offer them to Leia. 

The best he can offer her now is a kiss pressed beside the ring before Cassian lets get that hand go. Instead of pulling it away, Leia sets it on his cheek. She strokes her thumb over it, mirroring what he'd done with her. Her dark eyes look thoughtful, her expression bittersweet like strong caf with sugar. Cassian remembers something she'd once said about her biological mother. 

"Are you okay?" 

Leia's thumb stops moving, but she nods. Cassian covers her hand and leans into her palm. Her sombre smile brightens in response, and Cassian can feel the unnamed tightness in his chest loosen. 

"Does this place remind you of anything?" she asks after a moment. Cassian tears his gaze away to take in the sunlight filled clearing around them. Leia's hand slides down to his chest. 

"There was a place like this on Alderaan," he replies honestly. Leia's the one with memories here. Not him. He kisses her palm, hoping to quell her thoughts. 

"What do you remember about it?" 

Leia's voice is barely louder than a whisper. Cassian's gaze travels back to her, and he contemplates her for a moment. Then he pulls her hand from his face while his other slides down to sit at her waist. Leia's body shifts, as if moving solely through muscle memory spurred on by his movement, swaying to an unheard beat. 

"This." 

Leia's lips twitch, mouth pressed together in a barely hidden smile as she follows his lead, twirling once with the same weight she carries under a multitude of glittering skirts. Cassian moves with her. When they come together once more, he dips her, his grip on her never faltering and never constrictive. "And this." 

"Was that all?" Leia asks, voice low and thick in the way he's come to know it after Endor. 

Cassian's lips are close to brushing her throat when he replies. "If there's anything else," he murmurs, "I need a reminder." He pulls Leia back to her feet, and she uses the momentum to surge up and peck his lips. The kiss is as light and airy as the few clouds above them. "After we unpack," Cassian adds when she pulls away. The mission always comes first, though he tucks the loose lock of Leia's hair behind her ear as he says it. 

"Alright," is her whispered response. 

He catches her before she moves too far away from him. Cassian he winds up holding the tips of her fingers. Not quite holding hands, like how he can't quite grasp his current reality. 

Everything here seems perfect. Like Alderaan once had. As they get to work setting up their tent, Cassian feels himself easily falling into a steady rhythm with Leia. They move around each other as if in a dance. Lulled by the rhythm, the sense of wrongness only returns when Leia tosses the last of their gear into the assembled tent. 

Looking at her as he tends to a campfire, Cassian's chest swells with some unnamed emotion. The sight of the little tent and the sleeping bag they'll share cuts through that never-healed wound in his heart. 

Who is he, to be camping with a princess after so many people have died? 

"Hey." Leia joins him by the fire. Cassian gestures for her to come closer and she happily obliges, ducking under his arm and curling up at her chest. He's lulled into a sense of security that, in moments like these, he keenly recalls used to be a luxury. 

"There's something about this place," he says quietly. Leia lifts her head from his chest to sit up and Cassian misses the pressure immediately. She studies him closely, and the sight of the flames reflected in her eyes makes an apology spark in the back of his throat. "Never mind." 

"It's okay." Leia's hand is cool on his cheek warmed by the fire. Cassian's eyes flutter shut, and he works at the tightness that's built in his throat and chest. His shaky exhale is followed by the steely inhale of a sniper. The following exhale is that of a man who is utterly content.

"It's... strong in the Force."

Cassian opens his eyes. "Is that what it is?" 

Leia shrugs. "I'd have to ask Luke to be sure. I don't know if my own memories are playing a role in this." 

Cassian studies her face. Finding a wrinkle in her brow, he frowns briefly before pressing his lips to her forehead. She settles back against him, this time with her head resting on his shoulder and her arms wrapped around his waist. He holds her tight, cradling the back of her head with one hand and the other resting on her back, preferring her gentle warmth to that of the fire. 

Leia seeks solace in him as much as he seeks it in her. And Cassian is sure they're both capable of offering it. More than capable. 

They're meant to be.

"Maybe you two can train here."

"Maybe." Leia sighs into his chest. "Maybe he can set up a school here."

"Is that what he wants?"

"He'll figure it out."

"I'll have to help him."

The hand at the back of Leia's head slides down to her back. "We'll figure it out."

Leia shifts just enough to look up at him. "We will," she promises, and Cassian knows she'll keep it.

They breathe together, as one. 


End file.
